


Some Wounds Never Heal

by dracoMidnight



Series: Stars Under a Midnight Sky [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Attempted Murder, Blood and Injury, Chocobos, Gen, If you need a tag please ask, Other, Stabbing, The chocobo isn't getting stabbed don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26986543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoMidnight/pseuds/dracoMidnight
Summary: Kaishan had long since been warned to be wary of Ishgard and its people when they first arrived to Eorzea... having heard from others who had visited the frozen lands that the people there were also as unfriendly as can be and that trade is rarely, if ever, good. It was then, in turn, why they were so startled to receive a letter from said place asking them for *help* in training a chocobo.
Series: Stars Under a Midnight Sky [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721827
Kudos: 5





	Some Wounds Never Heal

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that I've been working on for a while, but yeah, Kaishan gets stabbed before they become known as a Warrior of Light and has a reason why they dislike Ishgard.
> 
> Uhhh, warning for blood, stab wounds (I go a bit into detail, if some graphical description disturbs you skip ahead to "The assassin yelled out-") but there is still gonna be a lot of talk of the wound and blood for the rest of the story. So if that bothers you, please do not read. Otherwise, enjoy? I have other works also in progress but college is draining me right now so they're taking longer than I'd like.

Kaishan had long since been warned to be wary of Ishgard and its people when they first arrived to Eorzea and had since then been offering their services as a chocobo trainer for a few years now. In that time, developing a network of contacts mainly those belonging to the Free Companies as they often had a surplus of destrier chocobos needing to be trained. They had been warned to avoid the place as they don’t take too kindly to those with their appearance. Kaishan didn’t get very many details as to the why, just the fact that it is due to their hundred-year war with the dravanians. They had heard from others who had also visited the frozen lands that the people there were also as unfriendly as can be and that trade is rarely, if ever, good. It was then, in turn, why they were so startled to receive a letter from said place by a poor moogle who seemingly still had a lingering shiver as they floated over to where Kaishan was sitting outside in Gridania.

“F-from an Ishgardian noble, k-kupo!” The poor mail moogle’s chattering made Kaishan offer up their cup of warm tea that they had been sipping on when the post moogle arrived. Not minding when they drank the entire cup in one go as Kaishan took the letter from them and looked it over warily.

“I thank you for delivering this to me and I wish you safe travels and good luck.” They didn’t wait for the moogle to leave as they looked the relatively plain letter over before opening it to read the contents.

It was indeed from an Ishgardian noble, one who wanted to hire them for their services in chocobo training as the noble had one chocobo that won’t be used for anything but mindless work due to its genetics. However, it seemed like the bird had become difficult to work with and train by even Ishgard’s own finest trainers. As to the how this noble had apparently heard of Kaishan in the first place was from another noble’s son who had left the city to wander around. The noble had also written that while they normally do not accept help from outsiders, he will begrudgingly try and see if Kaishan’s would fare any better. Kaishan frowned down at the letter, perplexed at its contents and with a slight seeping dread. The chocobo in question is a yearling, relatively difficult to train at that age as chocobos are often either flighty or fighty or even a mix of the two when they’re young until they grow older. A lot of chocobos still retain that fight or flight instinct as well but not as strongly. It wasn’t the chocobo that made Kaishan weary though, they can handle chocobos just fine, what made them weary was the location that they would have to go too in order to train the bird… A place that they had been warned about on more than one occasion and have only heard poor things of and judging by how the letter is written, not including the fact that it was written to them in the first place, it sounds like the noble has no clue on their appearance.

Kaishan had been told to be wary due to their appearance and was told that they look similar to the dravanians that the Ishgardian’s are fighting, due to their scales, horns, and tail. Things that can’t exactly be easily covered up unless they deny the noble outright. That seemed worse though and so they sighed, looking over the location that they were supposed to meet him at and had to read it a couple of times. Is that really the name of that place? Why’s it so long? Kaishan squinted at the location for a couple more minutes before heaving a sigh as they stood. They’ll go for another cup of tea first before they prepare themself for the journey ahead.

\----------

Even despite being warned of the place, nothing had prepared Kaishan to just how bitterly cold the place actually was. Even despite being wrapped up heavily in a thick travelling cloak that weighed down their tail to stop any warrant moving and swaying, they felt the chill nipping at their skin and scales. A thick scarf was wrapped around their face too, to try and hide their horns and face scales while the heavy cloak was lifted up over their head to try and cast the rest of their face in shadow. A glance down at their map as they look up at the settlement that they are walking towards, apparently an observatorium for aetherial and astrological phenomena if the extremely long name is anything to go by and believe. Kaishan tucked the map away as they enter through the gates, the guard currently on duty watching them walk past with clear mistrust in their eyes but not halting them as they entered the area proper. A glance down at the letter they were carrying and then another back up, they soon find the noble in question as the chocobo they were supposedly here for to train lets out a loud ‘kweh’ and tries to move and look behind itself. Seems like this one is flightier, Kaishan mentally notes as they eye the pale creamy yellow chocobo while they move towards the noble who looked exasperated at the chocobo’s attitude. At hearing snow crunching towards him however, he looks over only to have too look up… and up… much higher than what he clearly was expecting judging by the look on the noble’s face. The noble’s face then turns to one of distrust and weariness, his hand shifting to his side somewhat and making Kaishan nervous as they watched him.

“Uh… I had gotten your letter about wanting to train a chocobo…?” Kaishan cautiously said, aware of people watching the two of them with an almost seemingly bloodthirsty interest. They hold the letter out for the noble to read and he glances over it and notes his house crest before nodding.

“Yes, I did indeed. You had startled me there for a moment, wasn’t expecting you to be quite so tall… nor so covered. I would rather like to see the person’s face before I employ them.” The noble tries to shift forward and look up at Kaishan’s face shaded by the hood even as they lean back.

“Apologies, but I am afraid that the chill here doesn’t sit well with me. So, I must ask to keep my hood on so that I don’t freeze too badly.” Kaishan warily glances around while they try to keep their face hidden, noting a few eavesdroppers trying to listen in.  
The noble seems to accept their response though as he goes back down onto his heels with a shrug, “I had forgotten that newcomers aren’t accustomed to the cold of Ishgard. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember, but somedays even I am shocked at how cold it can truly get.” He pauses before waving his hand, “Very well, you may keep your hood on. I just hope that your services are as they’re written. You have one week to work on this chocobo here, if you can’t improve her temperament in that time, I will sell her to any merchant who visits. Do you agree to this and do you have terms as well?”

“Ah, yes, I have a few. The first being that I take part of the payment upfront. Secondly, no one can come in on me when I am training her. I don’t want her spooking while I am trying to train her you see. It will be detrimental…” The noble nods in agreement, humming a ‘you have a point there’ under his breath while he waits for Kaishan to finish, “Lastly, you do not need to worry about housing me. I have a room back at the inn in Fallgourd Float. Those are my only terms to this arrangement.”

The noble looked surprised for a brief moment, one that made Kaishan feel a moment of dread, a moment later the man laughs, “Oh, is that all? I would’ve thought that you’d have a longer list! I accept your terms and I have part of your payment here already; come I’ll give it to you when we arrive at the stables that she’ll be staying in.” The noble waves his hand not holding the reigns as he walks off.

Kaishan inwardly relaxed at that, offering a soft chuckle in response as they follow along after the noble, “Ah, that is a relief indeed.”

\----------

It was exactly three days into the training of the chocobo, who had a lovely temperament provided that nothing came up behind her, when someone noticed their appearance. The chocobo was prone to preening Kaishan’s hair after the second day when she had gotten used to their presence and understood their intentions were not malicious. Kaishan’s hood was down and their scarf removed as they prefer the chocobo they are training with to be able to see their entire face. The only bad thing about this is, their current location and everything that they had heard about it. Which was why a deep sense of dread filled them when Kaishan heard scuffling behind them just as the chocobo they were training looked up and over their shoulder with a chirp in surprise.

Kaishan quickly recovered their entire face after that, apologizing to the chocobo for cutting their time together short as they pat her neck softly. The chocobo wasn’t paying attention to them though beyond a soft nip to their cloak with her beak, her eyes were firmly fixed forward on where the noise had originated from. Kaishan quickly left her stable, closing the gate firmly shut behind them and looked around the rest of the stables. At seeing no one present, that sense of dread only grew as they walked hastily out of the stables and onto the streets where snow was just beginning to fall.

Good, hopefully it will cover up their footprints if they aren’t followed. Kaishan looked out and around the entire area, seeing far fewer people than normal wandering the streets. They nervously look around the area more, noting that a few more guards were present than normal. Taking a deep breath in, they quickly head off towards the entrance that they came through. As Kaishan was nearing the gates, someone had come into view and was walking down through the entrance that they were just beginning to leave through, walking past them. A sharp, quick pain shot through their head as something in it screamed at them that this person is a threat and to avoid at all costs just as something bright and glinting in the weak light flashed before lodging itself into the scales along their back and side. Kaishan hissed in pain just as they summoned their carbuncle into existence, their hand was reaching up towards where the attacker’s dagger was before the attacker twisted it and hissed, “heretic!” before viciously pulling the blade back out. Kaishan’s carbuncle had fully formed at that point and lunged at the attacker with bright flames while Kaishan gave a pained noise.

The assassin yelled out, alerting the guards that were lingering in the area including the few that were hanging around the gate. Kaishan took that as their cue to run out of there, hand pressed tightly to the now heavily flowing wound as they tried to cast a hasty physick upon it. One that did absolutely nothing. They cursed under their breath as they heard shouts behind them before an arrow came whistling past their head.

Great, this is what they get for willing to give people a chance… even despite the warnings. They gritted their teeth against the pain they feel in their side as they ran faster, calling their carbuncle back to heel as it lashed out once more in a whirling wheel of flame to smack the guards around it. A few of the guards stopped in their tracks to grab at their ankles and knees as the flames burnt and seared their skin. Kaishan could still hear a few others giving chase still behind them as they ran towards the boarder between Gridania and Coerthas. They just need to get into Fallgourd Float… and then they’ll be fine. Hopefully. Kaishan was breathing heavily as they ran, feeling a strange fuzziness due to the blood loss, as another arrow whistled past them. They were nearing the boarder when they heard some of the guards let up, hearing them jeer at them and shouting ‘we’ll get you next time, heretic!’ Pleasant…

Kaishan bolted across the boarder just as a few more arrows were shot at them, one managing to pierce into the cloak and scratch along their arm while another just shot through their hood cleanly. The arrows only stopped once they disappeared around a corner and behind a dead or dying tree, fully into Gridanian territory now. They didn’t stop there though, they kept running even past Fallgourd Float where they were staying, instead calling out to their chocobo who was stabled at the inn. Delta came running to where his owner called, giving a worried kweh at their injuries even as Kaishan shakily hoisted themself up into the saddle with quite a bit of pain and dizziness.

“Don’t worry about my right now boy, just go! We need to get out of here and fast.” Kaishan gripped the reigns tightly, feeling rather sick as their other hand slid wetly against their side.

Their chocobo kwehed again in response before he took off into a sprint once more, but he didn’t have a direction to go towards and so instead ran towards Gridania. The two have stayed here frequently enough that they know the area and that Delta can take them to the destination unaided. Kaishan tried to cast another physick upon themself to little use and they weren’t able to swap to conjury as they didn’t have the cane that they used for it on hand due to it being back in the inn room.

Black spots were beginning to form around their vision as Delta finally reached the entrance into Old Gridania as Kaishan slid off of Delta’s back only to almost collapse to the ground as their legs gave out. They landed heavily against Delta’s side who gave a sharp noise in response, tilting his head down towards his owner in concern. The guards posted at the gate came up to them with a shout in surprise at the same time, their words were hard to understand though to Kaishan as everything kind of all swam together.

Their hand was coated in their blood while one of the guard’s quickly ran through the gate back into Old Gridania. The guard didn’t return until much later with someone else beside him, their footsteps lighter from a lack of armor. The person gave a noise of surprise and a soft “Oh my,” upon seeing Kaishan and their wound.

“Well, I can see why you were attacked if you came from the Ishgardian border…” The newcomer said as he stepped over to where Kaishan was.

Kaishan tried to open his eyes again from where they were shut tightly against the pain and looked over, past the black dots swimming in their vision, to see an extremely blurry Elezen whose hair was tied back. The Elezen grabbed the star globe out from behind his back just as Kaishan felt their gaze swim more. “Do try and stay awake for me, will you? Well, as much as you can… in any case.”

Kaishan opened their mouth about to apologize again just as they blacked out.

\----------

Kaishan came too disoriented and lost on where they were, their head was aching and swimming with a horrendous headache that made them flop back onto the bed and tried to close their eyes against the pain. It took a while, but they eventually recognized the sounds and smells of Gridania, just as a soft knocking on their door alerted them. Whoever it was didn’t await their response as the door opened up even despite the hoarse response that was given delayed. Kaishan didn’t quite recognize the others aether but knew that he was the one who helped them.

“Ah, you’re awake again… thank goodness. You had lost a lot of blood you know.” The Elezen quietly said as he stepped further into the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“How long… was I out for?” Kaishan rasped against a dry throat, lowering their arm to look over at the Elezen who was watching them idly.

“Two days. Rather fitful on the first day, I was concerned you wouldn’t make it with how much blood you lost,” The Elezen informed as he stepped further into the room and sat down on a stool nearby the bed. The card sleeve at his hip gently tapping the wooden floor.

“Apologies about any trouble that I have caused you…”

The astrologian just shook his head and gestured to the cup and pitcher by their bed, “Pray, do not worry about it, I understand fully how those in Ishgard treat people of your appearance. Please do your best to recover though, I have done all I could to help heal your wound and I do not want you reopening it after I just got it closed. The blood loss also needs to be recovered on your own as I cannot materialize blood out of thin air back into your own bloodstream.”

Kaishan looked over at the cup in question and shakily sat up in the bed, “Thank you for helping me…” They had grabbed the cup in shaky hands while the Elezen stayed put, not leaving the room despite seeming like he was done.

“Of course, I became a healer to help people in the first place. What good would I be if I just ignored your plight? Be careful not to move too quickly,” He adds on after the fact as he leans forward some, almost taking the cup from Kaishan to help them drink when they almost drop it.

“I thank you again… for going through the effort though…” Kaishan lets the Elezen take the cup from them, not trusting their shaky hands to not spill the drink on them anyway even if it stings at their pride somewhat.

They finished the cup of water that the astrologian was holding and watched as he gently set the cup back down. While the cup was replaced, Kaishan flopped back down upon the bed with a huff of breath closing their eyes once more to try and block out the dull ache they feel in their side, gently feeling at the tender wound. Seems like the Elezen was able to heal the wound but not their scales it seems, not like they are blaming him though. They wouldn’t be alive otherwise. But it is certainly something that is going to stick with them now it seems, a parting gift from Ishgard… they grimace slightly and think bitterly to themself; this is what I get for wanting to help others and trusting them. Their hand was smacked away from the wound with a ‘tsk’ from the Elezen in question.

“I would suggest not touching it, thank you very much. Anyway, you need another round of healing.” The astrologian took his star globe back out and gently placed his other hand, not holding the now floating globe, over the wound just as cool aether gently flowed over the wound, soothing some of the burning ache.

Kaishan gave a soft grunt of pain at the lingering feeling, but slowly relaxed as the pain started to dim. “W-who are you…?” They mutter, glancing up at the Elezen who was muttering an incantation under their breath as they finished up the healing.

“Name’s Aurelian Corbett and before you ask, yes, I am from Ishgard. I was traveling around to see if anyone needed a healer outside the city’s walls that was not a caused by a dragon.” Aurelian reattached his star globe back to his back as his hands rested in his lap. He watched Kaishan as they at first tensed back up again and then cautiously relaxed once more before standing up, “Now, I must head out again so be sure to rest. I’ll be back later for another round of healing on your wounds.”

Kaishan gave a soft murmur, already feeling exhaustion settling back into their body as the door to their inn room opened and then closed firmly shut.


End file.
